a vote of last hope. choosing their parliament with a former comedian stealing support from mainstream politicians. of disappointment running. america's new secretary of state john kerry is checking the boxes with key allies in europe first tour abroad look at what is mission with old nato allies could be like. in the latest efforts to negotiate peace in syria the country's government says it's ready to talk to all sides of the opposition even those. drugs are made russian vegetables drug control officers seize almost two hundred kilograms of heroin hidden in sacks with a radish market. thank

you for joining us on this monday here on our. with your twenty four hour global. disappointed italians are choosing parliament for the second day in what's largely seen as a protest against painful austerity and corrupt politicians and the man helping them to punish the mainstream parties is a former comedian is promising to swing the country around from its current course but he. reports the outcome might be no laughing matter. the streets of rome aligned with posters from various political parties and candidates all smiles and bright colors offering the best future possible for italian voters. if you like i was

. thirteen yes it. was it was was he was. the program loz not the leader but the face of a movement his plan is simple to do away with the politics that italy has been used to for the past couple of decades and bring about a new type of rule the number saved on my part i don't feel protected by the state i want to state that is visible there is no more state in this country just a group receive laws that has replaced democracy there isn't anything left among the crowds disillusioned with israelis politics is done the analysis has started small by successfully challenging politicians in his small hometown in the south like many talents he does not trust the current political system if it will cost you to live your life yet here you will think that was ok i begin to feel that if you live off the wall. but it is time for

a change at least one hundred thousand people showed up to support close movement in the center of rome the biggest political gathering in half a century people say popular because it speaks clearly and they say it's one of the main thing to say so they have to go or home whole hall where they're finished and this right because they're the political class has lost in the in the impress on the land to part of the population especially young people. we have a political class. unable to cope with the situation and the situation is a desperate one the longest recession in twenty years more than one third of the country's youth are without a job corruption that feeds organized crime and manages to siphon off as much as sixty billion euros a year by some estimates and declaring wealth divide between various a tally and regions basically it is huge a parliament will have

a mouthful to chew to avoid choking on the problems which have accumulated over the years perhaps doing away with the old men in suits no matter how respectable they may appear in favor of a foul mouth but seemingly honest comedian may be just the thing to put an end to italy's political drama in rome. and a political analyst. of any of the cabinet will deliver on their promises to rein in at least finances which could ultimately plunge the whole eurozone into a fresh state of turmoil. well the problem of europe is not the problem of public debts this is a financial assault that has been concerted by private entities to milk money from the eurozone that said of course berlusconi is not really the best choice to to drive around these difficult obstacle and the moment you wasn't really so much

better despite being well connected world has a wonderful work. but very little continent and this is a bit worrying because as soon as you get in it gets in parliament but it's not just italian politics to make politics in the world and frankly for the moment they don't feel he is really well equipped i hope he will make up because anyhow he will come up with a sizable number of parliamentarian this but they have really to study very hard and very fast to come up with something credible. while the voting in italy officially closes at fourteen hundred g.m.t. today with exit polls made available shortly afterwards i do stay with us around the table bring you the first results of what many are calling the most unpredictable elections in italy's history. this is r.t. and the new u.s. secretary of state is in london testing the ground for american foreign policy on

the first leg of his first tour abroad john kerry is meeting with traditional american allies in europe such as the leaders of britain germany and france before heading to the middle east political expert john re says kerry's mission in europe is all about persuading all partners to take on a greater role in nato is ongoing foreign wars. it's always been very important for the americans to keep the nato alliance together but they always want to keep it together on their own terms always been the great for instance the senior come out of the gulf so we nato is from the american armed forces what the americans constantly want to do is to shift the burden of military intervention on to the european powers put to keep political control over the process and i think that we've seen a number of times recently especially since the american focus is now beginning to shift towards the pacific to deal with the rising threat of china we are going to

the europeans now have. a greater share in respect of policing the arab world and north africa what we're seeing here is an attempt to convince the nato allies that they should pay more but have no more influence. it's going to be with us here in r.t. today a massive drugs boston right on the edge of moscow as once again highlighted the alarming rise in the illegal heroin trade from afghanistan into russia almost two hundred kilograms of high grade heroin was seized by drug control offices this monday at a busy market sean thomas is here to tell us more about this here on the program and sean good to see you so among the radishes and two hundred kilograms of high grade afghan heroin how on earth does that make it so close here well indeed it is an interesting story with compelling pictures as well in fact one hundred ninety kilos of heroin from afghanistan worth about one hundred eighty million u.s. dollars from afghanistan to russia stopped in moscow suburbs in fact it was hidden

in ranch radishes in fact you can see here some vegetables and when they cut open these bags that actually has the drugs or the radishes in it they actually find heroin inside and that heroin even died green at the color of the radishes so that they were less detectable is very interesting to see how this all played out but the big news here. is that they believe that russian officials believe that they have stopped a major supply route between afghanistan and russia specifically through a vegetable contract from a company in respect to stem that was then going to a russian company in the urals and then it was being shipped here into moscow stopped at this point in look you can see the turnips in the green colored heroin. all being counted out there worth one hundred eighty million u.s. dollars right now they have two people who are detained and two more people who have been arrested in connection with this particularly drug bust and of course the investigation is still ongoing showing what what what is the overall situation with

drugs coming into russia because certainly there are some nato members currently involved in afghanistan that i've read reports on where they refused to raise some of the opium fields they refused to burn them down because for some or if not many afghan farmers that's the only life in the hood so we're still seeing the large amounts of this afghan opium and heroin working its way to the russian capital indeed and russia is involved with western forces in trying to help that drug problem in afghanistan but just this week if you look at what they've seized here in various parts of russia around thirty tons of drugs various kinds between heroin marijuana synthetics and psychotropic drugs as well and that is just this week in different regions around russia but since the u.s. invasion into afghanistan the production of heroin has gone up five thousand percent it is estimated five thousand percent not a small amount at all narcotics into russia during that same period of time it's estimated it has doubled and the head of russia's drug control services says that

they're actually looking forward until two thousand and fourteen u.s. troop withdrawal because they believe that when the united states leaves afghanistan that drug production will actually or drugs being brought into russia will actually significantly be reduced so something to look forward to in two thousand and fourteen and also there are others who are saying that when indeed nato troops do leave afghanistan the production of drugs will increase so we just have to see how it plays out. and see a way to see thank you very much. one of the drugs remain one of the central problems for security forces in afghanistan itself tackling this problem could be easier in the coming years as more u.s. troops are about to leave afghanistan after president karzai has just ordered them out of the war got province we report on why later this hour. it's ten minutes past the hour moscow time the rivalry between the u.s. and china has gone digital and it's threatening to turn into a full scale cyber war a recent scandal involving

a chinese military unit allegedly engaged in cyber theft from american companies has put washington on the defensive but it might not be long before washington makes its move into this new era cyber arms race as art is more important reports. in january it is my pleasure to welcome president hu to the white house washington and beijing were the a list couple of geopolitics the positive constructive cooperative u.s. china relationship is good for the united states in february america's feelings are fleeting china unleashing its full spy power let's return to the alleged link between china's military and a prolific hacking group most cyber attacks are being carried out by teams inside the chinese military china is officially out of control because don't look now but prove today our sugar daddy is a thief beijing became an overnight security threat last week after the american

information security firm mandiant identified a secretive chinese military unit as the likely source of hacking against the u.s. corporations i charged china vehemently denies. however as the us refocuses its military might from the middle east to china's backyard critics say it's no coincidence that beijing is suddenly morphing into america's virtual al-qaeda i think this is part of what oh asia pivot which is really a china and this cyber thing is is fits right into that pattern i think what we're looking at is art of this obama pivot to focus on china and to paint china is the new military threat to the world it's the demonization china earlier this month u.s. president barack obama signed an executive order aimed at strengthening america's cyber defense when you know hackers steal people's identities and infiltrate

private e-mails we know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets . now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid our financial institutions our traffic control systems we cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our comp but according to reports washington is all too familiar with the offensive side of cyber war it's the u.s. who launches things like stuxnet that you go there with israel to to cripple certain iranian technology capabilities in two thousand and ten a computer virus known as stock snap infected tehran's enrichment facilities destroying nearly one thousand of iran's six thousand centrifuges according to reports the virus made entirely out of code was a joint collaboration between the us and israel in terms of a pandora's box i think it will be slightly harder for the united states to adopt

a position of purely defensive we sort of made it clear that we're willing to use cyber in advance of our national interest while reports about china's a legit cyber attacks have dominated u.s. mainstream media much less is being said about the pentagon's decision to double down on its cyber war work force expanding from nine hundred to more than forty five hundred employees experts say the move is indicative of washington's evolving military strategy every commander with whom i have spoken is going to be the next major war will include cyber component it will just be a traditional insurgency a body of their central ground troops the next floor all certainly will include a cyber component and the edge of cyber war france could become foes by the click of a mouse and some say in a very short time relations between the u.s.

and china over virtual espionage can resemble the long stalemate that took place with the soviet union during the cold war we're in a port i.r.t. new york. and you can have your say on what these scandals and cyber wars are all about just by heading over to r.t. dot com we're doing a twenty four hour global poll right now let's see how the numbers are adding up from their web site they do change a little bit from hour to hour so when it comes to these whole cyber wars between america and china what's it all about actually saying what the majority are now is saying sixty five percent that this is all about a p.r. stunt from the obama administration to try and justify his sort of cyber agenda coming in a second place it's all about espionage well that wouldn't be a surprise thirteen percent of voting a glimpse into world war three down to the bare minimum this is a direct warning to beijing from capitol hill in washington u.s. china war the cyber wars apparently some are saying these mean going on for at

least a few years now if you go to www dot com you can let us know what you think and i'll be back with more news after a very short break. technology innovation. developments around russia. the future. thank you understand it and the. other part of it and realize that everything is. welcome to the big picture.

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this is. syria's government is open to dialogue with the opposition even its functions and the country's foreign minister made the announcement while meeting russian diplomats right here in moscow to bring peace to syria have suffered a new blood for the main rebel group decided to put out all excuse me to pull out of all of its international talks complaining all the time about what it sees as a lack of action against president assad. the story. this visit is taking place at a very uncertain time it's really not clear what's needed to be done in order to get the syrian opposition engage in talks with the government and saddam askers does stress that it is really for a dialogue

a word that the opposition and if the last week there were some positive signals coming from the wells they said that they were willing to hold talks with the government now they refuse coming to moscow accusing russia of supporting president assad the most which says the number of those who support this realistic approach towards a peaceful resolution is growing those who want to continue fighting to the end realize that so they're trying to suppress positive news from the opposition and stop any steps towards dialogue which will in the meantime soon after thirty years have put together a government commission headed by the prime minister designed specifically for negotiations with the opposition and they say that they are ready to talk even with armed rebels because. we are ready for dialogue with everyone including those who are fighting on the ground as we are convinced that reforms should not be made through bloodshed meanwhile it was more or less predictable that the rebels would

refuse coming to moscow it came as a total surprise that they rejected i mean to washington and drawn to take part in the upcoming meeting of the so-called friends of syria group which was initially designed to support to the syrian opposition and foreign minister lavrov a stress that nothing is done now and no political process starts if the violence continues there then the whole country is on the brink of collapse. brian away from. the west. details on. north korea.

thanks for joining us here and. joining the e.u. . there on an official visit is increasingly frustrated over a lack of progress in negotiations the prime minister calling the delay quote forgivable. political analyst says that the current economic situation in the e.u. leaves many turkish citizens without any desire to join. we have to see that the european union is no democratic pro chafed its political approach

a sort of ideological approach because when you ask the people in germany if they wanted to head the euro for example fifteen years ago that huge majority of the people who were against getting that europe asked the people if they want to send troops to the turkish syrian border they say no the european union is a construct with out a democratic base it's an ideological base and so maybe hopefully we can hope for for the turkish people that they will have the right to take part in the referendum of zero to about a turkish membership because i can imagine that for the turkish citizen to see how the european the how of the european union develops now in those states is doesn't seem very attractive to become a member of that club. and the blame game is in full swing in washington over moving devastating budget cuts which may take effect to the end of the week eighty

five billion dollars will be slashed across sectors funded by public money democrats and republicans failed to reach a compromise on tax increases and the latest budget battle and the risky methods used by the u.s. to revive its economy put in today's spotlight with crush told that's coming up later this hour. at least in the case of the united states you're seeing the private sector seeing a gradual improvement of the economy a much more while you do you have p.n. situation where you have been go ahead and go ahead we're do you see an improvement in the united states what do you see that and also do you think a monetary policy is going to get you anywhere while you have to balance sheets of every country and the printing of money is destroying it is doing the complete opposite of what you wanted to do the united states economy he's definitely on an improving bad. housing sector coming bag. put. the housing question in my coffin consumer confidence is not

a measure of economic activity. i know just a few minutes on cross talk here and i'll see that will be after the world cup for now though the afghan president hamid karzai has ordered u.s. special forces to leave the key battleground province of war derek troops are accused of torture and of the murdering of civilians just as kabul is preparing to take back control of security politics professor patricia gennaro believes karzai also needs to regain the support of the people there were probably you know the family is strong the place isn't all it's how i think they're kind of tired as well as most. going in and out of people's houses later and comment cards that president

karzai needs to take care of his own see it's definitely president karzai is trying to make a statement and our fact they haven't come to an agreement yet they you know there is there are still little i'm sure power play going on between the u.s. and the president as to who's going to stay who's going to be in charge you know what kind of numbers they want and how they're going to work but absolutely you know i mean afghan leader is going to have to show that he has a little bit more support throughout the nation and then just his region and within the south there. right into the sea will drop dead as promised him now almost off with south korea's newly elected first female president. she's called for the country's northern neighbor to drop its nuclear program she believes the move would lead to shed development between the two states and communist north carried out its nuclear test earlier this month in retaliation to western imposed sanctions upon the daughter of the nation's assassinated autocratic founder was sworn in today at

a ceremony attended by tens of thousands. of lost at a chemical factory in the south western chinese city of gori yang has injured five people and forced twenty thousand others to evacuate firefighters arrived to the scene bringing the flames under control limited huge plumes of black smoke environmental workers are now on the scene checking the scene. and thousands of protesters are out in the streets across ball garia venting their anger at a rising utility costs caused by power monopolies people have been rallying for more than a week nationwide protests have already forced the country's government to resign after it failed to bring down the ever rising price of oil. or the u.s. congress battles over budget cuts and tax increases that was the subject the people of l. and his guests on cross told after the break.